updated 04:46 am EST, Thu December 27, 2012

NVIDIA TegraZone gives Windows RT a gaming boost

NVIDIA TegraZone has finally made its way to Windows RT, adding a gaming boost to Tegra 3 devices running Windows RT. The most prominent Tegra 3 powered Windows RT device to hit the market is the Microsoft Surface, with both NVIDIA and Microsoft hoping its arrival on the platform makes a splash. Games available through the TegraZone portal have been optimized to take full advantage of the Tegra 3's graphics performance.

Any Tegra 3-powered Windows RT device can run the optimized apps, however, as with the TegraZone on Android, the apps will only run on Tegra 3 devices and not on devices with chips produced by alternative vendors such as Qualcomm. Games included in the launch window are Judge Dredd vs Zombies, Space Ark, Pinball FX 2, Reckless Racing Ultimate, Riptide GP, Soulcraft, Vendetta Online and Sprinkle. All of the games are available separately on the Windows Store, but the optimized versions are only available through the new TegraZone app portal.

Electronista has had some hands-on time with the Tegra-optimized version of Riptide GP for Windows RT and has found its performance comparable to the way the Tegra-optimized version performs on the Tegra 3-powered Nexus 7. Although the Tegra 3 is smashed by the GPU in the iPad 4 (7.2 GFLOPS versus 76.8 GFLOPS), Riptide GP looks good and plays with decent frame rates. The Tegra-enhanced features, which include better water physics, smoke, cloth, dynamic lighting and particle effects, combine to make for a solid gaming experience on the go.